Asian firms fined for cartel

LG Display and Chi Mei Optoelectronics were among Asian companies fined €648.9 million by the European Union for fixing prices of liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels.

“Foreign companies, like European ones, have an obligation to respect competition rules when they do business in Europe,” EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters in Brussels.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest LCD maker, wasn’t fined because it informed on the cartel and provided “valuable information,” he said.